Amelia Winger

The Houston Chronicle • 28th August 2024

Harris County FEMA applications break record after Beryl

“It was 11:52 when I heard a boom, boom, boom, boom,” ▶ Powell said.

Rattled, the 72-year-old stayed on her couch until 3 a.m. when she heard another ▶ boom. “I said, ‘Oh Lord, what done happen now?’ That’s when the kitchen fell in.”

Houston Chronicle • 12th August 2024

Only 1% of housing authority's tax deal units affordable to Houston's neediest

The deals involve completely exempting apartment complexes from property taxes in exchange for making some units affordable and paying the housing authority a fee. This has saved large apartment complexes more than $1 million a year in taxes, although some of the 107 developments with fewer units listed in the audit yielded lower tax breaks. As of April, the housing authority audit said it had collected $53 million in fees from the deals, which it says will be used for the public benefit.

The d...

The Houston Chronicle • 6th May 2024

Lakewood shooter had encounters with 50 officers before attack

Disclaimer: This introduction contains sounds of gunshots and violent language that some readers may find disturbing.

Moreno was clutching the 7-year-old’s hand on Feb. 11 as she made her way through the halls of Joel Osteen's Lakewood Church. She fired dozens of rounds from an AR-style rifle, shouting: ▶ “All I need is help.”

In a series of 911 calls Moreno placed in January 2023, often in the middle of the night, she ▶ whispered that she was convinced her communications were being intercepte...

Houston Chronicle • 21st March 2024

Has HPD suspended an investigation into an incident you reported? Search our database.

Houston Police Chief Troy Finner, left, greets Mayor John Whitmire as he arrives at Houston Crime Stoppers to speak to law enforcement officers on Thursday, Jan. 4, 2024 in Houston.Brett Coomer/Staff photographerEver since Houston Police Chief Troy Finner announced last month that the department had suspended more than 264,000 case investigations due to lack of staffing, many Houstonians have wondered: Did I ever report an incident to HPD that was dropped for this reason? Finner has assigned sco...

The Houston Chronicle • 19th February 2024

How $100M turned a vacant downtown Houston highrise office into luxury apartments

This is part of a series on office-to-residential conversions in Houston. Check out another installment of the series here and stay tuned for future articles.

This is part of a series on office-to-residential conversions in Houston. Check out another installment of the series here and stay tuned for future articles.

But the recent $100 million transformation of a 52-year-old office highrise in downtown Houston into a 372-unit apartment community offers a case study into how one developer overc...

Miami Herald • 16th November 2023

DeSantis talks tough on China, takes cash from China-backed company

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has made his tough stance on China a signature issue in his presidential campaign.

DeSantis has gone on the offensive against Chinese influence in recent months, signing a bill restricting what land Chinese companies and citizens can buy in Florida and suspending state scholarships to several Florida schools over alleged links to China.

But this August he took a check for more than $11,000 from the CEO of a Tampa refrigerant company with direct backing from China. It...

Miami Herald • 29th June 2023

Heirs to Black-owned homes face ramped-up foreclosures. Here’s who’s pushing back

When Henry Scott’s mother died two years ago, there was never a doubt he’d want to keep her home.

PublicSource • 20th January 2023

Camp closure marks new era in Pittsburgh's homelessness policies

Two legal advocacy groups are urging Pittsburgh and Allegheny County officials to develop policies for respectfully decommissioning homeless encampments, citing December’s closure of one along Stockton Avenue as a potential violation of the constitutional rights of people who lived there.

“The government can do a lot, but they have to do it in a constitutional way,” said Vic Walczak, the American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania’s legal director. “Unceremoniously taking and destroying peop

PublicSource • 31st October 2022

Experts weigh PA's rising '302' involuntary treatment petitions

“Amanda, I’m so sorry. The cops are here.”

Panic shot through Amanda Wilson as she looked up from the hammock chair on the back deck of her Millvale home, taking in the grim expression on her mother’s face. It was the same look she wore during Wilson’s childhood when sharing that a relative had passed away.

Afraid and confused, her mind raced to understand what the police could want from her on that July afternoon — she hadn’t committed a crime. Were her friends OK? Was somebody hurt?

Wilson

WHYY • 13th April 2022

More community engagement sought at Philly gun violence briefings

MacMillan said the structure of the briefings encourages the media’s coverage of gun violence to focus on police responses to specific incidents, which marginalizes alternative prevention strategies.

It also has the potential to harm victims by encouraging journalists to prioritize reporting about crime incidents, not prevention. Journalists attending the briefings are typically limited to asking questions about the topics discussed during the presentations.

“We know from our research that thi